Posts Tagged ‘Janice Mueller’

I am not sure that I have ever reviewed a book review before, but Donald Chisum and Janice Mueller have written a thorough and thoughtful review of Ronald Fierstein’s book, “A Triumph of Genius” recounting one of the major patent infringement suits of modern times, Polaroid v. Kodak, which encompassed about a decade spanning the late 70’s to the mid-80’s. Polaroid prevailed at the Fed. Cir., in 1986 and put Kodak out of the instant camera business.

My connection to this litigation was peripheral, to say the least, but it was emotionally tangible. Kenyon & Kenyon represented Kodak, and I joined the firm as an associate in 1981. Although I had fine mentoring, there were associates whom I did not meet until months after I started, since they had temporarily taken up residence in Boston, where the “D Mass.” suit was being tried.

Although the loss to Polaroid stunned the IP world, it didn’t slow down Kenyon & Kenyon’s growth–I recall that the senior associates who worked on the case “made partner” — or its ability to attract major litigation, and I was soon sucked into the “Cookie Wars” between Kenyon’s client Nabisco, and Frito-Lay et al. But someone else will have to write that book.

The Academy is pleased to announce the April 2015 publication of the annual Update for Volume II (Patent Enforcement) of the practitioner treatise, Mueller on Patent Law, authored by our co-founder, Janice M. Mueller.

The full text of the 2015 Update for Volume II (Patent Enforcement) is available electronically on Wolters Kluwer’s Intelliconnect subscription platform. By examining in detail each of the cases highlighted below (plus many others), the 2015 Update adds extensive and valuable new matter to Volume II.

In August 2014 the Chisum Patent Academy held two back-to-back seminars in its Seattle, Washington facility to discuss and debate current developments in patent law. Each roundtable seminar group was limited to ten persons; sessions were led by treatise authors and educators Donald Chisum and Janice Mueller.

Attendees included experienced patent litigators and prosecutors from law firms and corporations in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and India. Each seminar met for three days. Seattle’s great summer weather, coffee, and lively discussion were enjoyed by all.

Here’s a recap of the takeaways from the seminars:

▪ 2014 Supreme Court Decisions: Moderation? The year 2014 was an undoubtedly high water mark in terms of the number of pertinent SCOTUS patent law decisions–six directly on patent law issues plus a copyright case (Petrella) that could alter the laches defense for patent infringement claims. Commentary and initial responses, including those by the PTO, suggest that the cases represent a significant move toward constricting the availability of patent rights. Yet, in-depth discussions of the cases during our seminars detected a tone of moderation. For example, Alice has been read as broadly precluding patents on “software.” However, language in Alice strongly suggests that claims to technical advances, even broad claims that involve computer implementation, remain patent eligible. Unfortunately for patent applicants and owners, it will take time and resources to establish such eligibility through appeals from PTO rejections and summary district court invalidations.

This seminar series, taught by Donald Chisum, the leading authority on evolution in patent law, and my former law clerk, Prof. Janice Mueller, explore contemporary developments in patent law in detail. How about a session on how to respond to the new s. 101 Mayo/Myriad rejections that Examiner’s have begun to lay on us?